The Man Who: Bittersweet conclusion.

So, another team got 32 people in. Did my share of brooding and moping, then decided to focus on what happened, and not what could have happened. At the end of the day, we did our best despite all the factors against us.

We had a very small window of opportunity: looking at the entire competition period, we only had a 50-minute window in which all the team members could gather to go for the challenge. The inflexibility of this window also meant that we didn't have the luxury of making another attempt if another team beat our figure - like it or not, our first few tries would be our only tries. We lacked practice, due to the very tight timeline we had to stick to, and we had insufficient small people, having to use a number of not-so-small guys.

But, despite all this, we accomplished something. We managed to pull together a motley crew of 40-50 people, squeezers and supporters included, from a pool of normally apathetic law students. Not only did we manage to get a crew together - our team was enthusiastic. A term I normally wouldn't apply to law students. Furthermore, so many of these people we managed to pull didn't even know each other well - yet everybody banded together in that moment to put up the very best showing we could.

More amazingly, this was all organised within a timeframe of just over 48 hours. In these 48 hours, 3 of us gathered the people (directly and indirectly), checked the vehicle dimensions, discussed the dynamics of the space, finalised the movement order, tied up admin issues with the organisers, and made sure that everything ran smoothly. On hindsight...the speed and efficiency at which everything was done is something I'm proud of.

Also, something I'm truly thankful for is that nobody got injured. It was something that weighed heavily on my mind; and I'm glad my fears were unfounded. And that's an important element! As Petripoo put it, squeezing one or two more people in might have made the difference and caused an injury. That was brought to my attention while I was brooding over the fact that we didn't win, and it eased my mind greatly.

And, selfishly...I'm glad I did this, because I wasn't sure if I could pull off the co-ordination required. The, uhm, managerial role. Because leadership is a mantle I'm not comfortable wearing. It's a role I don't I feel I'm good at. But...it worked out. Nobody got hurt, everything was done efficiently, and everyone was happy. And, perhaps, just perhaps, I should start giving myself a little credit in that area. While I'm mainly glad because everyone had fun, I'm also glad because I proved to myself that when push comes to shove...I can get it done. With help from my friends, of course - but ultimately, it can be done.

But, yes - everything hinged on the enormous amounts of help I got from all quarters. And I am still amazed at and thankful for all the spontaneous and enthusiastic help I received. If there's another reason to be glad that we did the carsqueeze thing, it's that I got that much closer to so many people (and not just physically, hurhurhur.) It was a good chance to work with some people I didn't really know, and a chance to broaden my social horizons. It's not just about the individual relationships. It's also about the shared empathy, the shared experience.

Years from now, I'll look back and remember it as a weird, fun thing we did together. And for me...it's a memory to be cherished.

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Photos, as promised. Because a picture paints a thousand words and my descriptions cannot do justice to the event.